OCR can find the numbers and still lose the table
I read 78 financial PDFs eight ways for my finance app. Finding the numbers was easy. Keeping each one on the right row was not.
Technology
Writing on Technology, newest first.
24articles in this collection2016–2026
1 min
Dot is helpful, but not clever enough yet
Dot made airline miles easier to understand. It also made me ask what it takes to trust a personal agent with work beyond a chat.
Building a San Francisco map feels a bit like cheating
I’ve always wanted a small, animated SVG map of just San Francisco. The city’s open data was already there. Codex made the rest feel easy.
I Found Three Thread Network Names on My Home Network
dns-sd found three Thread network names. Discovery showed more than I expected, but did not establish credential sharing or radio connectivity.
My Home Assistant Light Group Disappeared
My YAML light group vanished after an update. I blamed Home Assistant 2026.5 too quickly; the Helper fixed it, but YAML is still supported.
I Ordered a Fitbit Air Because I Won't Sleep in My Apple Watch
I ordered a Google Fitbit Air to test whether a lighter band can solve the sleep-data gap my Apple Watch leaves.
How to Run Hermes Agent on a UGREEN NAS with Docker
UGREEN said my Hermes container was running. The gateway couldn't read its config. Two user IDs explained the failure—and the fix.
Reading and Writing Tripsy's SQLite Database on macOS
Tripsy stores all your trip data in a local SQLite file that iCloud syncs to your Mac. The file is already on your disk — no export needed.
Why Adobe Animate's Flash-to-HTML5 Bridge Failed
Adobe Animate kept the Flash timeline alive for HTML5, but the web moved on. Maintenance mode confirms the bridge could not hold.
Getting a DBA in San Francisco: The Real Process and Costs
I registered a San Francisco DBA for $236. It took two City Hall stops, one newspaper email, and four weeks of publication.
SwiftUI Toolbar Placement Is Intent, Not Coordinates
I tested SwiftUI toolbar placement, grouping, search, and overflow on iPhone and iPad. The useful mental model is intent—not fixed screen coordinates.
What SwiftUI's Tab APIs Actually Do
I rebuilt SwiftUI's TabView examples to separate the iOS 18 navigation APIs from the iOS 26 Liquid Glass redesign—and to see where the system takes control.
What VoiceOver Exposed in My Liquid Glass UI
VoiceOver read my compound views as a pile of unrelated elements. Grouping, labels, and combined accessibility testing fixed the experience.
I Had to Turn Down Liquid Glass to Test It Properly
The full Liquid Glass effect became distracting while I built with it. Here is how I handled Reduce Motion and Dynamic Type in SwiftUI.
How I Connected a ZWA-2 to Home Assistant on My Ugreen NAS
My working setup for a Home Assistant Connect ZWA-2 on a Ugreen NAS, using Docker and Z-Wave JS UI.
Figma's Trademark Overreach: 'Dev Mode'
Figma's dispute with Lovable over Dev Mode shows why common developer terms make weak trademarks and costly legal weapons.
Bitcoin ATMs Are Not Financial Inclusion
Bitcoin ATMs charge steep fees and are frequently used in scams. Their placement in vulnerable neighborhoods makes the business model hard to defend.
Building HTML5 Components for Adobe Animate CC
Adobe barely documented custom HTML5 components in Animate CC, so I worked backward from its built-in Video component.
AWS Lambda's Bad Interface Is Actually a Feature
Lambda's clunky deployment process forced me to think small. That constraint led me to better microservices design. Sometimes friction is good.
Bash on Ubuntu on Windows: What Works and What Doesn't
Microsoft added Ubuntu's Bash to Windows. I tested it for real work and hit some rough edges.
Why Browsers Killed Flash (And Why Designers Lost Out)
I worked in advertising as browsers pushed Flash out. The web gained battery life and privacy controls, while ad production got much harder.
Edge 14: Microsoft Finally Catches Up to Firefox
Edge 14 hit 460 points on the HTML5 Test and reached Firefox territory. It was Microsoft's strongest standards result after Internet Explorer.
Mocha v3: Major Improvements to the Test Runner
I upgraded two repositories to Mocha v3. The migration was uneventful, and the fixed .only() behavior was reason enough to do it.
Using UglifyJS's screw-ie8 Option in Gulp
Once I stopped supporting IE8, UglifyJS still emitted compatibility code for it. This Gulp option switched those workarounds off.
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